The Warden
by kannabi-no-miko
Summary: The Hero of Ferelden wasn't supposed to survive the Archdemon. She was never supposed to meet Hawke. Yet now that she has, everything is about to change.


The elves bustled about in the quick strides that they had grown used to since living near Kirkwall. The giant city seemed to loom over everything, darkening whatever the shadow touched. They hated it, each and every one of them, they missed Fereldan. They missed the woods, the smell of the creek, the gentle wind. The free marches were void of this, void of the qualities that made Fereldan their home.

They hated it here.

The two guards at the entrance of the camp stood straighter as they heard people approaching. Groaning internally when they saw that those approaching were wearing hoods that covered their faces, the reluctant guards raised their weapons.

"Halt shems! You shall not pass."

The taller of the two stopped and chuckled. Then with an armored hand they pushed the cloak down. The two guards dropped their weapons in surprise.

"It has been a while my friends." Walking over to the two stunned elves the woman clasped them on their shoulders before walking into camp, the second smaller girl following behind her. As they walked the elves around them stopped and stared. Finally the two stopped in front of the Keeper, her back turned to them as she tended to her staff.

"Keeper."

The older elf stopped, her shoulders tensing in surprise. Slowly she rose to her feet and turned around. Letting out a breath of relief and happiness the Keeper smiled.

"Mahariel you return to us!" Then without a second thought Marethari embraced Mahariel. Around them the clan rejoiced for the first time in years.

XxxxX

Later that night when everyone was sleeping Marethari and Mahariel talked quietly to each other.

"Long have you been gone my child, yet now you return to us with a child of your own. I can see that you are troubled Rohan, speak to me of your worries."

Rohan stared into the fire for a few moments before turning to face the Keeper. "I fear for her Keeper. I fear that my daughter is not safe."

Confusion settled on Marethari's face. "Why would she not be safe? Does she show signs of magic? Is it the Templars you fear?"

Rohan went quiet. Her answer was barely a whisper. "She is no mage yet she can wield magic far older than any we know."

The Keeper's eyes opened in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Clasping her hands together Rohan spoke. "The only way to end the Blight is to kill the Archdemon. This must be done by a Grey Warden or else the Archdemon can rise again. However this process kills both the Old God as well as the Warden. The soul of the Old God travels through the Warden's and both are destroyed, resulting in death."

"Yet here you are, with a child no less. So tell me, what has happened?"

"When I went to kill the Archdemon, I was pregnant." Rohan paused before Marethari urged her to continue.

"Instead of one soul, there was two. Her father was also a Warden. She is born of the taint." Suddenly the Keeper shifted, understanding in her eyes.

"You fear that the soul of the Old God lingers." Rohan shook her head.

"No. I fear the truths that she will know."

"I do not understand."

Sighing Rohan got up and walked over to her daughter, softly moving a piece of golden hair out of her sleeping face.

"The soul of the Old God resides within her. It cannot harm her nor can it be tainted." She moved away from her daughter and back to the Keeper.

"What I fear however is the knowledge that she will one day inherit. She speaks of things back in the days of our history long forgotten. Speaks of it as though she lived it. She is four about to turn five. I fear that if others were to learn of her…"

"That they would take her from you. That they would kill her."

Rohan nodded. "Yes. That is why I have left the Warden's at Vigils Keep. They were asking too many questions, none of which I had the answers to. It's hard enough trying to hide the fact that she's the daughter of the King. If they were to find out that she is a God-child…I fear that they would kill her."

The Keeper stared into the fire. "This is a grave matter indeed."

Rohan glanced up at her Keeper. "Would you let us stay?"

"This is your home child, we will never turn our backs on you. You and your daughter are of The People. Never shall we turn you away."

Sighing in relief Rohan felt the tension leave her body. "Thank you."

The Keeper simply nodded, her face lit by the fire in front of them. "Keeper, is it true that Flemeth was here?"

Marethari nodded again. "Yes. It was some years ago however. I do not remember well the events of what happened. If you want to know more about Flemeth and her visit here I suggest you seek out Hawke. Or in this case, send her a letter, it is not wise to venture into Kirkwall. The city is nothing but dangerous, not a place to take a child such as yours. It is filled to the brim with Templars."

Rohan nodded. "Alright, I'll send a letter to this Hawke. What is he like?"

The Keeper gave a slight chuckle. "She is a lot like you."

XxxxX

It was late the next morning when Bodahn yelled up to Hawke. She had just stepped out of the bath when he shouted through the door that a letter had arrived. A letter from the Dalish clan that Merril had left.

How interesting.

Drying off she quickly dressed and went downstairs to the writing desk. Opening the seal she began to read.

_Hawke, _

_We have not met, but we both know a certain witch. One with white hair and a sense of madness about her. I would greatly appreciate meeting with you for I have questions that I fear only Flemeth may answer. Any help you could give me on her would be most beneficial. I will be with my people for quite some time, so do not worry to rush up here._

_A friend_

Frowning Hawke put the letter down. Someone else knew Flemeth? How curious. Hawke chuckled at the 'don't rush up here' part. Of course she was going to rush up there, her curiosity would get the better of her. So running back up to her room she quickly changed into her armor, grabbed her weapon and was out the door before her mother could realize she was gone.

A half an hour later she was climbing up Sundermount with Fenris, Aveline, and a complaining Anders.

"So Hawke, you've no idea who sent you this note?" Artemis resisted to roll her eyes at Aveline's question.

"No, I haven't the slightest idea."

"You really are brilliant."

Artemis snorted. "Shut it Aveline."

"You're blatant disregard to the possible dangers you put yourself in astounds me."

"The amount of time you scare the shit out of me astounds me." Artemis shot back. After a moment Aveline chuckled.

"True enough Hawke. True enough."

It was nearing sundown, the giant ball of fire was slowly descending from the sky.

"Explain to me why we had to come here today. It's going to be dark before we get back." Anders stated.

"Because Hawke cannot control her own curiosity." Fenris answered.

"Hey! My curiosity gets us paid!" Cried out Artemis, hands on her hips.

"Fair enough Hawke."

A giggle from ahead of them made them pause. A little girl with bright blonde hair and green eyes was looking at them. Her mouth was cracked open in a smile, showing her teeth. One of her front ones was missing, making her even more adorable when she smiled.

"You're late!"

Artemis frowned. "Late?"

The little girl threw her hands up in the air in a dramatic fashion. "Yeah! My momma went to lay down. She doesn't sleep much anymore, but now that we are with the Clan she can finally rest."

That was when Artemis noticed the slight point of her ears. The little girl was an elf.

"Little one you're a ways away from the camp. That's very dangerous." Aveline chided the little girl who shook her head.

"I'm safe! Don't worry!"

Sighing Artemis walked forwards. "All right, back to camp you go. I've got a meeting with your mother."

"I'll beat you to camp!" Then the little girl took off like a bolt towards the camp. "No swooping! Swooping is bad!" She cried out over her shoulder.

Artemis paused mid step. "Swooping?"

Looking back at the others she said it again. "Swooping?"

They shrugged. "Not a clue, sorry." Anders told her.

"Gee thanks for the help guys."

"Anytime Hawke, anytime."

"Shut up Aveline."

None of them noticed the stone golem watching from a distance. A brave bird landed on the ground next to it. A loud crack was heard. The bird was squished. The golem smiled.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The little elf girl was strange. That was saying something. Artemis had dealt with some pretty strange people in the past but…

This kid took the cake. She was cute, and there were times that Artemis had forgotten just how creepy she was. She had only just met the kid and already she was unnerved by her. It wasn't like the girl was scary, she really was adorable, it's just that there were times that when she looked at you it was like she was gazing into your soul.

They had only been with her for around ten minutes, traveling to the camp, but those ten minutes were enough.

She wasn't the only one who was unnerved by it either. Aveline had mentioned something about it earlier, Anders was uncharacteristically quiet, and Fenris was brooding….more so than normal. Really he was disgruntled by everything it seemed. Still, she cared about him.

She had a feeling the little girl knew that too. Creepy.

"So," Aveline said, breaking the silence. "Tell us about your mother. She sent for Hawke yes?" The little girl nodded, smiling her toothy smile.

"Yep! My momma did!" Then she paused and stopped her skipping, changing it to a slow walk so she could keep walk with them.

"My momma is very pretty! She's kind and wise!"

Artemis chuckled. "Is she now?"

"Yes! She's very strong too! No one can beat her!" The little girl seemed so sure that her mother was unbeatable that Artemis almost found herself believing her.

"Such are the thoughts of a child." Fenris spoke slowly, as though he was in deep thought.

Suddenly the unnerving look was back. As the little girl gazed at Fenris a chill crept up Hawke's spine.

"What do you know of childish thoughts? You, a former slave, who cannot remember his own past have no right to talk." The clearing went deadly quiet as the group stared at the girl. Her eyes suddenly seemed older than she was, older than time itself. She wasn't a little girl anymore, instead she was something ancient…and deadly. Then the feeling was gone, replaced with the little girl who now smiled at them with a toothy grin and bright green eyes.

What the hell had Hawke gotten herself into now?

The moment was ruined however when a group of darkspawn ran into the clearing ahead of them. The darkspawn charged right for them, as if they had been waiting for them.

"Protect the girl!" Artemis screamed as she struck down a Hurlock. Aveline shouted something in response but Artemis couldn't hear it over the sounds of battle. After what seemed like hours the last Genlock was killed and the clearing was quiet.

"Well, that was random."

Hawke turned to look at Aveline, her friend was covered in blood and was panting slightly. "Did you just make a joke?"

Aveline made a face at Hawke. "Does that really surprise you?"

"Hell yeah it does!"

"There's more coming!" Anders shouted, alerting them.

Then the darkspawn came in numbers far greater than before, and with them they brought an Ogre. Hawke swore beneath her breath and stared in shock. Where did all these darkspawn come from? They were so close to Kirkwall it was strange for them to be so far out.

Hawke was so engrossed in her thoughts that she forgot about the Ogre. How that was possible? She had no idea, the damn thing was impossibly large, stank like sewer piss, and roared every few seconds. Yet, she forgot about it and now the damn thing had the kid cornered.

"Aveline? Fenris? Anders? Someone get the kid!"

It was no use, they were all too far away fighting too many darkspawn. She glanced back over to the kid and realized that there was no way to save her. Cursing again Hawke doubled her efforts to get to her when the kid screamed.

"Shale! Momma! Help!"

Nothing happened for a moment, but then through the woods came a golem. Large, larger than Hawke had seen before, glowing with red stones it barreled through the darkspawn like they were nothing. Behind it ran a mabari who quickly went to killing the nearest creature it could find. The golem was literally tearing a path to the Ogre and the little girl, crushing anything in its way.

Then a commotion from the front of the group drew her attention away from the golem. Something, no not something, someone was cutting through the darkspawn like butter. Hawke saw glimpses of black hair and pale skin, but that was it.

What the hell was going on?

Then a figure literally leapt out of the mass and at the Ogre. It was female, no armor to protect her, no she was wearing what looked like normal clothes and the only weapon she had was an elven dagger. Yet one slice from that elven dagger felled the Ogre. It dropped to its knees, blood gushing from its slit throat before finally falling to the ground dead. The darkspawn seemed to freeze, looking at the newly arrived woman, then in an astonishing turn of events they ran.

The golem, Shale, walked over to the woman and glanced at the direction the darkspawn fled to.

"Shall I follow them?" The woman nodded and without another word the golem marched off.

"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" Aveline sounded as she walked up to the kneeling woman and startled child. The mabari growled and snarled at her, jumping to defend his owner. Aveline took a step back.

"Does this need to be explained? My daughter was attacked by darkspawn, she called for help, we answered. What about that confuses you?"

Standing the woman turned to face them. Her hair was long and black, her face had a giant winding tree tatted on it and her eyes were a startling silver. The green of the tree seemed to make her eyes glow.

"That was not an ordinary Golem." The woman shrugged at Fenris's statement.

"You mark her as different because of the way she looks. I could say the same about you. That is lyrium branded into your flesh is it not?"

Fenris's eyes darkened and his face tightened into anger. "That is none of your concern."

"Just as my friend is none of yours." She shot back coldly, meeting his gaze head on. Hawke, knowing a bad situation when she sees one, decided to step in.

"So you are her mother? Then you are the one who sent me a letter asking me to come."

The woman's cold eyes shifted to Hawke. "Yes. So you are Hawke?"

"I am, and you are a friend yes? So please, let's end this hostility already. We can save that for the darkspawn."

"If I have acted in a way to lead you to thinking I did not like one of you, then I am sorry. All the darkspawn about tend to send me…into a fit. I have no qualms with my fellow elf."

Fenris spat. "Do not speak as if you know me. We are nothing but strangers."

Cold silver eyes met his once more. "You and I are alike in more than a few ways. In time come past you will realize this." When he opened his mouth to protest she held a hand up, silencing him.

"Spare your words, I'll not argue with you here. Tainted blood sits on the ground around us, I'd rather not stand around here talking." Gathering her daughter into her arms she began walking back towards the Dalish camp.

"Wait, what's your name?" Hawke cried, stumbling after her.

The woman, stopped and turned, the sun was setting behind her making it seem like her daughter's hair was molten gold. "I am Rohan and this is my daughter, Ailey."


End file.
